An issue that often arises in communication systems is maintaining sufficient transmission bandwidth to satisfy quality of service (“QoS”) requirements. These challenges are accentuated in instances where unshielded twisted pairs telephone lines (“twisted pair links”) are employed. Telephone signals rapidly degrade when transmitted over twisted pair links of meaningful length. However, given the existence of twisted pair links in many buildings and communication networks and the cost associated with alternative links and/or retrofitting existing twisted pair links with alternative links, it is desirable to transmit such signals over twisted pair links for a variety of applications, including video communication systems. Accordingly, there is a need for a system that provides a means to use twisted pair links for high data bandwidth applications.
Moreover, given the rise in demand for real-time motion video, high-resolution images, and quality of service requirements or thresholds have increased demand for broadband spectrum, the need is urgent. While existing phone systems nominally pass voice signals between 0.3 and 3.4 kHz, twisted pair links are capable of carrying frequencies well beyond such 3.4 kHz upper limit. In certain twisted pair links, the upper limit can be tens of megahertz, depending on the length and quality of the wire. Previously and currently known technologies have attempted meet bandwidth demands with near-broadband services, such as DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) and related technologies that provide digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. However, DSL employs a “fixed” frequency allocation according to DSL provider specifications. For example, DSL allocates a finite set of frequency bands for uplink and downlink above the 3.4 kHz upper limit. Another problem with DSL is that signals passing over twisted pair links deteriorate rapidly and unevenly across frequency spectrum with increasing length of the twisted pair communication wire. Even wireless installations, such as Wi-Fi and WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) installations, at the end of their transmissions signals, are often required to pass over twisted-pair copper wire, and signals over these twisted-pair links deteriorate rapidly and unevenly across the frequency spectrum relative to increasing the length of the twisted pair communication wire.
Other previously and currently known technologies employ digital services, such as E1/T1, in an attempt to satisfy the aforementioned demands for bandwidth. However, digital services are often cost prohibitive in that they often require additional voltage, wiring, and special equipment at each end of the line and line, and conditioning to prepare for digital-only service.
There has not heretofore been employed a cost effective and efficient method and apparatus for dynamically allocating frequency to meet the above and other needs. Moreover, there has not heretofore been employed a technology that provides for high bandwidth transmissions over twisted pair links presently forming the backbone of the local telephone infrastructure in the United States and other countries.
This issue of maintaining sufficient transmission bandwidth to satisfy quality of service (“QoS”) requirements arises specifically in high-bandwidth communication systems having disparate devices with minimal native interoperability. For example, the rapid and uneven deterioration of signals—while tolerable for basic communications and general internet connectivity—are not suitable for sustaining large-scale implementations of disparate systems and services, including, for example, control authority over electronic computing systems, such as IT/data, security systems, content delivery and facilities management. For example, construction and engineering projects built according to previously and currently known technologies usually provide for multiple conduits because of DSL's inherent inability to handle multiple large-scale, high-bandwidth applications for security, videoconferencing, facility management, and cable television.
Fully digital services, for example, DSL and ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) wire-line communications, fiber optics, and related wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi and WIMAX, use digital transmission over the wires of a local telephone network, and are particularly disadvantageous in facilities management and security applications because facilities applications rely heavily on the use of analog equipment. Presently known architectures supporting both analog and digital equipment have required large-scale capital improvements with significant economic requirements carrying forward. Furthermore, such architectures have yet to realize a control system capable of full-scale interoperability between disparate devices providing services such as information technology computing, telecommunications, security surveillance, and cable television. Moreover, as alternative types of communications links with improved bandwidth capacities are developed or improved upon, operators must interconnect such links with existing telephone infrastructures from the Wide Area Network (WAN) and to facilities with legacy electronic equipment. However, such legacy equipment lacks the ability to be fully interoperable, under a single command authority, with other electronic computing systems. Due to ubiquitous large-scale embedded wire networks and numerous electrical systems needing access to such networks, there is a need for such systems to be brought under a central command authority for data transmission purposes.
Accordingly, the art has not produced a scalable architecture on a single network of existing infrastructure (including telephone wire, disparate equipment or devices, and legacy electronic equipment) or a parallel-based architecture utilizing existing telephone wires in combination with optical data transmissions. In addition, previously and currently known technologies fail to scale in a parallel fashion as a basic tenant of a delivery platform. This means that these services are not able to extend nationally or globally as demands increase or that QoS cannot be maintained for a fully integrated services suite on a large scale. For example, in facilities management and security applications, there has not been full-scale deployment of services based on IPTV (Internet Protocol Television), Wi-Fi, and WIMAX for security applications operating simultaneously, on the same infrastructure, and under the same control authority.
Also, there is currently need to interconnect RF links, optical links, and adaptive communications links with existing copper wire infrastructures to bridge communications links on a scalable parallel basis in order to maintain QoS requirements, especially as users' demand and consumption have increased due to a lack of channel capacity. Additionally there is a need to ensure that management of such an interconnected network is independent of disparate devices by being fully interoperable, for example, across devices provided by multiple vendors and devices that are not IP (Internet Protocol) addressable. The need to ensure interoperability has not previously been achievable in wire line or wireless communication systems. For example, facility-level services and “back haul” networks have experienced economic challenges due to QoS failures and unsuitable scalability of “last mile” delivery inside of buildings or facilities. Such failures and challenges are attributable, in part, to using a single communication pathway for computing, IT, security, and content delivery among multiple hardware devices, which may lack a central command structure due to being developed by different manufacturers or using different proprietary protocols.
There has not heretofore been employed a single command authority for managing network demands for large-scale implementations of disparate systems and services, including both legacy analog equipment and digital IP-addressable equipment. Also, there has also not been employed a cost effective and efficient method and apparatus for bridging these activities in an architecture which is operable with or without the utilizing the Internet, and in either analog or digital form, while maintaining the ability to scale. Also, there has not been employed a cost effective and efficient method and apparatus for dynamically allocating frequency to meet the above and other needs. Namely, the needs to standardize the patterns and distribution of video across land line and wireless networks simultaneously, and to scale them across large-scale geographic ranges, i.e., a city-wide or national basis, without regard to geographic or terrestrial considerations and being integratable to both analog and digital environments. Moreover, there has not been employed a such a network that provides for high bandwidth transmissions over twisted pair links that presently form the backbone of the local telephone infrastructure in the United States and other countries.